Debate and Conversation

“In a debate, one side wins, the other loses, but both are the same as they were before. In a conversation neither side loses and both are changed, because they now know what reality looks like from a different perspective. That is not to say that either gives up its previous convictions. That is not what conversation is about. It does mean, however, that I may now realise that I must make space for another deeply held belief, and if my own case has been compelling, the other side may understand that it too must make space for mine.”

The Dignity of Difference, p. 83